Mumbai Diary: Monday Dossier

Prejudice in the dance bar
Sonia Faleiro's gripping, sensitive portrayal of Leela, a bar dancer in Mumbai, in Beautiful Thing (2010) remains one of the most path-breaking works of non-fiction about the lives and times of the city's bar dancers. However, after a while, we spotted another attempt to depict this world. In his debut fiction work, Without Prejudice, Mumbai-based author, Devasis follows the journey of protagonist, Pallavi, from the ravines of Chambal to the dance bars of Mumbai. We'll keep you posted on how this one turns out.

Pic/Shadab Khan

Guess who?
We almost didn't recognise actor Alia Bhatt when our photographer snapped her while getting out of her car in Bandra over the weekend.

Uday Benegal

A new musical in the making
Recently, the cast of a musical, Sing India Sing, was finalised, and the line-up left this diarist quite impressed. Written by Bugs Bhargava Krishna and Rahul da Cunha, it will have a music score by the multifaceted Clinton Cerejo, as well as a host of experienced performers and musicians including Brian Tellis, Uday Benegal, Tavish Bhattacharyya, Mansi Multani, Siddharth Basrur, Meher Mistry and Rimi Nique. "We've just had the first gathering. It was a bare-bone cast meeting where we heard the music, produced by Clinton. The lyrics [by Krishna] were promising too. The play is still in the process of being written," reveals Benegal, vocalist of the popular Rock group, Indus Creed.

Calling all Potter geeks, once more
Any news related to Harry Potter and his magical escapades is bound to get the hopes up of fans of the fictional wizard around the world. And as a commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the publication of the first book, two new titles will have an international release this winter. Hold your wands though, the books haven't been written by JK Rowling. Harry Potter - A Journey Through the History of Magic, and Harry Potter: A History of Magic, have been written by the team at British Library, UK, as part of an exhibition the library will host. The books are slated for an October release in India.

Pic courtesy/Girliyapa on Youtube

More power to women
If the Indian women's cricket team had been in the shadows until now thanks to its flashier counterpart, it certainly isn't any more, after making it all the way to the Women's World Cup finals. Girliyapa, a YouTube channel that celebrates women, has released a funny video in honour of the team. The video is set in the dressing room prior to a match, where the actors playing team members are greeted by marketing 'coach' Butter Paneer Khan. Modelled on SRK's character in Chak De, Khan starts evaluating the performance of the girls, not on field, but on social media. He goes on to rattle off a list of requirements - wear skimpy clothes, let your hair down, get tattoos to grab eyeballs. But, after letting him ramble for a while, captain Mithali Raj and the rest of the girls shut him up and make him leave. Peppered with jokes, this video is a sarcastic take on all the misogynistic comments the women's team has been subjected to in the past. Here's to shattering more glass ceilings.

Jose's expose
The BMC and Shiv Sena have received flak for targetting an RJ after her song ranted about the city's potholes. Funnyman Jose Covaco did an investigative video to prove the RJ was wrong: the city doesn't have potholes. It follows his journey across Bandra, from the 'chai for the birds' puddle at Bandra Reclamation, the nanobots buzzing near a storm water outlet outside Lilavati Hospital to the multi-purpose hole outside Sachin Tendulkar's home - it has a small puddle for animals, birds or kids who may need a drink, and high-tech speed breakers outside the said RJ's home in Pali Hill. What a neat expose, Jose.